A Bad Day

This is just another day in my life

I knew it was going to be bad. The moment I woke up and looked around my room, I sensed that it was going to be a very bad day. And when you have a lot of hopes going on, lots of string following had been done to this day, I tell you, it’s not a good feeling at all.

Usually, this kind of feeling for this day was unusual. Unusual for a Sunday, at least. Sunday was a day where I got to relax and rest my overworked limbs. I had a very long week indeed, which stretched for two weeks. I had to go out of station on the Saturday of the week before last week due to work, meaning it ruined my previous Sunday. I had been looking forward to this Sunday, but it sure has been a long week. One of my colleagues had taken a leave and he didn’t return all through the past week. This meant that I had to do my job and his job as well. Plus, one of my friends was all alone in his week since Wednesday of the past week, so I went to visit him everyday after work to keep him company. Not that I had a complaint for that as well, as I was getting to spend some real quality time with my best friend. But my parents weren’t too happy about it because all in all, I had barely got to spend more than 10 hours at my home, 8 of which went in sleep. I couldn’t practice my drums for the past four days, which added to the miserable feeling. And to top it off, I had recently confessed my feelings to a girl, and I was expecting her answer today.

So, I got off from the bed and at first, I reached for my drumsticks. I played my drumming lessons for at least half an hour, and then went on to the computer to listen some quality music. I play drums and rap for a band that I had brought together and we had been invited to play in a rock concert. It was a dream come true for me, but the lead singer and guitarist of the band was less-than enthusiastic; saying that he’ll miss some of his important classes and he was not prepared to do. I had planned to go to the church in the evening to meet up with him and try to convince him to do it. I was not feeling confident that I would be able to convince him.

I also had not been able to listen to quality music through the whole past week; thanks to my super busy schedule. I got my computer rolling after my half an hour of heavy drumming and soon the speakers were thudding with the songs of Rammstein, Linkin Park, Papa Roach & Saliva. I sensed some life getting back to my chest that had been cold all week. It did not last for a very long time though, as I got a call from my boss who wanted me in the office on a Sunday. ‘F**k’, I thought. ‘There it goes, already started’. I didn’t brush my teeth or take a shower as I was thinking about a haircut and a shave as I had now surpassed 'looking cool' and reached ‘being stupid’. All the hair grows under my chin, like a he-goat, but didn’t have the opportunity to go have a shave.

I went to the parlour first, got a number booked, telling the barber that I’ll be back in an hour. Then went straight to my office, sorted a few things out and returned to the parlour. It had taken me a little longer than an hour, so I had to wait thirty more minutes. In that wait, I got my first bad news of the day, and the first one was heavy itself. I got the message that the girl whom I had confessed my very ‘special’ feelings to her, said that she does not has feeling for me 'of that sort' whatsoever. Well, Do I need to describe how did I feel then? I don’t think so.

So, after getting my shave and my haircut, I went back to my place had a shower and freshened up. My parents and my brother were waiting for me so as to we could get to have lunch together as a family. I was still brooding over the first real bad news of the day when my dad told me that there is a famous actor who had come to stage a play nearby with his troop and he had managed to get the tickets. Thinking that it’ll take my mind off things a little bit, I went to the play. The play wasn’t very good though; I knew the story by heart as it was enacted from a series that I had finished long ago. By the time the play was done, it was time to go to church. After the proceedings were over, I met up with my singer and guitarist. He plainly refused, saying that it wasn’t possible for him as he had some exams going on and he didn’t want to miss it. I knew him too well. If he wanted to do something, he wanted to do it perfectly. He was the most serious persons in the band apart from myself and held practice every day when there was a show due the previous month. But that show had not happened in the previous month and was postponed to a date later this month. But now he can’t play because of the rescheduled date clashes with his timetable of studies and exams.

Well, I don’t think I would have smiled even I met with a jester or a joker right in the middle of the road jumping and doing crazy stuff on the road as the do in the circus to make you laugh.

Back home, I watched Manchester City go down 2-1. Switching off the television, I dialled my friend’s number, but with no answer. Not for long though, as he called me back seeing my missed call. This was a routine for us, as we used to talk to each other at the end of the day before turning in for the night. We had an unspoken agreement as well, which was if one of us is feeling down, it was the duty of the other one to cheer us up. But it so happened, my friend was also feeling down. Needless to say, we couldn’t talk much and hung up soon.

Now came the most difficult part. I wasn’t able to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I would see the girl in my head and wake up suddenly. Usually, I sleep thinking of a comforting thought and tend to dream a nice dream. But, there was nothing nice in my head today as each time I remembered the girl who was so ‘special’ to me, I was constantly reminded by some dirty part of my brain that she had turned me down. When I tried to think of music, I realised that we weren’t performing because our singer and guitarist had turned us down. I used to talk to my friend over the phone until we felt sleepy, but that equation had gone out of the window not long ago.

I hate dogs. But that night, it was a thought of dogs that brought me sleep. I saw a street dog, chasing cars on the street as long as it got out of reach. Then he sees another car and follows it too as long as it goes out of reach. He keeps on following and following and following until there is no energy left in his body. And you know what the worst part is? He couldn’t even get on a car.

Author's Note

This is a story by me after a gap of 3 months. Feel free to comment on the situations.

Reviews

[Bhavya Kaushik]

Damn! This is so AWESOME, I have read a lot of work by you and trust me, this in really one of your best.
The ending left me speechless and that gave such a disappointed touch to the entire piece. The reference of that dog and chasing of car is according to me, the best part of it. As such, it is really a brilliant metaphor and concluded this entire story brilliantly.
I was also quite disappointed to know about the lack of interest of your band members about that concert.
Sigh, but this is what life is all about.
Life is a melody , a song of different notes and not all of them are good.
All I could say is that -
Sometimes, we need to fall in order to rise....we need to fail in order to gain, because in life...few lessons are best learned through Pain...

[Autumn Starberry]

This is great Kevin! I especially love the ending! ^_^

[Imperfection]

Wanted to add something--
I think you should experiment with more of short stories. They're not just entertaining but almost always you seem to have a subtle message hidden somewhere between the lines without making it sound too preachy or loud.

[Imperfection]

There is not much I can add after Bhavya's glowing review. He has pretty much mentioned everything I could have written...
I do agree that the metaphor at the end was the best part of this write.

I like reading pieces where the writer cites little details all through. This was one such write...makes you feel as if you're watching the scene unfold before your eyes. I don't know why I developed interest in this from Para 5 onwards. Paragraphs 2 to 4 did not read as smooth as the rest of the piece. I may have been distracted. Will come back later.

And yes, I must mention--I will keep the dog and the car in mind.
That surely will be helpful...

[lAcEy_LoO's Poems Site]

Oh love i'm sorry this happen to you... i'm here for ya if ya need me

[Emily B]

Good morning, Kevin. You certainly have a lot going on. Disappointments are part of every success. You must persevere. Keep practicing, keep confessing, keep hoping. . . you will get to the place you want to be.